Winch assembly



P 969 v. P. RHEINBERGER 3, 66,012

WINCH ASSEMBLY Filed June 1, 1967 I NVENTOR.

BY ATTORNE Ae THUR A. M44 04 Vmcervf FHsuvaemEn United States Patent 3,466,012 WINCH ASSEMBLY Vincent P. Rheinberger, West Hartford, Conn., assignor to Hunt-Pierce Corporation, Milford, 'Conn., a corporation of Connecticut Filed June 1, 1967, Ser. No. 642,837 Int. Cl. E21c 29/16 US. Cl. 254-134.?! Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A winch assembly having a support and power means mounted on the support. A shaft is provided which is operably connected to the power means and a drum is rotatably mounted on the shaft for winding and unwinding a line on the drum. Advantageously, a disengageable connecting member is provided which joins the shaft and the drum to allow the drum to be power driven when the connecting member is engaged. The connecting member is disengageable from the shaft and drum to allow the drum to be freely rotatable on the shaft. The shaft has an outer portion extending beyond the drum for mounting an additional or drum reel on the shaft. The outer portion has engaging means for connecting the reel thereto. Another highly desirable aspect of this invention provides for a brake pivotally mounted on the support means and positioned adjacent the drum to provide for proper winding and unwinding of a line wound on the drum.

The present invention relates to a winch assembly, and more particularly to a novel power driven winch mechanism for use with a cable guiding device.

Previous power driven winch mechanisms, such as those driven by electric motors for use with cable guiding devices did not provide for free rotation of the drum or reel when the electric motor is off and the brake for the electric motor is on. Further, the lines wound on these drums are subject to snagging and backlash and are exposed to weather conditions.

It is an object of this invention to provide a novel winch assembly that is readily adaptable for use with a cable guiding mechanism.

Another object of this invention is to provide such a winch assembly with a drum that may be power driven or freely rotatable.

A further object of this invention is to provide such a winch assembly where the line on the drum of the winch assembly is not subject to snagging or backlash.

An additional object of this invention is to provide such a winch assembly that is adapted to mount an additional drum on the same shaft as the other drum.

A further object of this invention is to provide such a winch assembly that may be readily mounted on a vehicle and protected from weather conditions.

Another object of this invention is to provide such a winch assembly that is relatively economical to manufacture and simple to operate.

Other objects and advantages will be readily apparent from the following detailed specification and claims and the drawings appended hereto wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation view of a vehicle with a cable guiding device and the winch assembly of this invention.

FIGURE 2 is a front view, partially in section, of the winch assembly of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a side elevational view of the winch assembly of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 4 is a view similar to FIGURE 3 with an additional reel on the winch shaft.

Patented Sept. 9, 1969 "ice It has now been found that the foregoing and other objects can readily be obtained in a winch assembly having support means and power means mounted on the support means. A shaft is operably connected to the power means and a drum or reel is rotatably mounted on the shaft for winding and unwinding a line on the drum. A disengageable connecting member is provided for joining the shaft and the drum to allow the drum to be power driven when the connecting member is engaged. The connecting member is disengageable from the shaft and the drum to allow the drum to be freely rotatable on the shaft. The shaft has an outer portion extending beyond the drum for mounting another drum or a reel on the shaft. The outer portion has engaging means for connecting the reel thereto. In addition, a brake is advantageously provided which is pivotally mounted on the support means and positioned adjacent the drum to provide for proper winding and unwinding of a line wound on the drum.

The winch assembly is adapted for use with an electric motor having a brake that is normally on when the electric motor is off. This invention thus allows the drum to rotate when the brake for the electric motor is on.

The winch assembly may also include a drum or reel mounted on the outer portion of the shaft with a disengageable member connecting the reel and the outer portion of the shaft. The disengageable member may be disposed in an aperture in the reel and an aperture in the outer portion of the shaft to connect these parts. This reel may be of a collapsible type or a capstan depending upon the use to which the Winch assembly is put.

Desirably, a retaining member is provided on the shaft for holding the drum thereon during free rotation when the connecting member is disengaged. In addition, the

winch assembly may be mounted in an enclosure for protection from weather conditions.

Advantageously, the brake is pivotally mounted on a @hinge on one end and has a cylindrical weight mounted Advantageously, the winch assembly is mounted on the vehicle for tensioning the cable placed by the boom or other suitable use. A tensioning line may be wound on the drum of the winch assembly and extension therefrom to engage the cable. The outer portion of the shaft for the additional drum or reel may extend outside the body of the vehicle for suitable use.

Referring now to the drawings, in FIGURE 1 there is illustrated a truck, generally designated by the reference numeral 10, having a hydraulic reel loader, generally designated by the numeral 12, in the rear of the truck 10. The reel loader 12 is adapted to pick up and rotatably support reels on the back end of the truck 10. In the center portion of the truck 10 there is provided a slip clutch turret, generally designated by the numeral 14, which mounts an extension boom 16. The boom 16 is mounted on the turret 14 for movement about a vertical axis and has a hydraulic mechanism 18 for moving about a horizontal axis.

A reel 20 is mounted on the reel loader 12 and has a cable 22 wound thereon which extends forward through a roller guide 24 to a swivel chute assembly, generally designated by the numeral 26, mounted on the forward part of the truck by means of a post assembly 28. The cable 22 extends through the swivel chute 26 where it is reversed in direction and then extends back through a roller guide 30 mounted on the upper end of the boom 16.

The truck is thus adapted to pick up and rotatably mount a reel so that the cable 22 may be aerially placed on supports by the boom 16 in a conventional manner. The truck 10 is provided with roller guides 24, swivel chute 26 and the roller guide 30 so that the cable 22 may be conveniently aerially mounted without making sharp bends in the cable that may damage it.

In order to apply the proper tension to the cable 22 for aerial mounting and for removing and rewinding a cable that has been previously mounted, there is provided a winch assembly, generally designated by the numeral 38, having a drum mounted on a shaft 42 which is rotatably mounted on the truck 10 in bearing 42a. The shaft 42 may be driven by conventional means such as by an electric motor 43 and gear mechanism 43a mounted on the truck 10 and operably connected to the shaft 42.

The drum 40 is rotatably mounted on the shaft 42 by a sleeve 44 and is advantageously releasably connected to the shaft 42 by means of a removable pin 45 which passes through apertures in the sleeve 44 of the drum 40 and through a suitable aperture in the shaft 42. This highly desirable construction provides the pin 45 so that the drum 40 may be either power driven by the shaft 42 or allowed to rotate freely on the shaft 42 when the pin 45 is removed. A retaining ring 41 is provided on the shaft 42 in order to retain the drum 40 in position during free rotation. The pin 45 has suitable retaining means to hold it in the apertures in the shaft 42 and the sleeve 44 during rotation in the form of a ring 46 and a spring loaded locking ball 47. Suitable lubrication is provided between the shaft 42 and the sleeve 44 to allow for free rotation of the drum 40.

A tensioning line 48 of synthetic fiber is wound on the drum 40 and passes upwardly through a sheave 50 to a snatch block 52 mounted on the swivel chute 26 adjacent the post assembly 28. The tensioning line 48 then extends toward the cable 22 for tensioning the cable that has been placed on supports or for other suitable purposes. The end of the line 48 may be attached to the cable 22 by conventional means.

In order to increase the pull of the winch assembly 38 on the line 48, an additional mechanical advantage may be provided by a second snatch block 54 having the tensioning line 48 passing therethrough and bent back so that its end portion may be fixedly attached to a strut assembly, generally designated by the numeral 56, which is rigidly mounted between the post assembly 28 and the turret 14. The snatch block 54 may be connected by conventional means to the cable 22 for tensioning or used for other suitable purposes.

As best seen in FIGURES 2 and 3, a brake, generally designated by the numeral is advantageously provided in order to retard the free rotation of the drum 40 to prevent backlash of the line 48. The brake 60 has an arm 62 with a cylindrical weight 64 on one end thereof that engages the line 48 wound on the drum 40 to apply an inhibiting force on the rotational movement of the drum 40 thereby keeping the line 48 snugly wound thereon. The other end of the arm 62 is pivotally mounted on a hinge 66 attached to the truck 10 in order to allow the weight 64 to properly position itself between the side flanges 40 and 40b of the drum 40 and on top of the line 48 wound on the drum 40 as the line 48 is wound or unwound. When the drum 40 is power driven the brake 60 acts to properly position the line 48 on the drum 40.

The winch assembly 38 is mounted on the truck 10 within an enclosure 58 in order to protect the winch assembly 38 and the tensioning line 48 thereon from weather conditions. The winch 38 is provided with a brake means 68 for braking the electric motor 43.

The shaft 42 has a shaft extension 70 protruding beyond the drum 40 with an aperture 72 formed therein. As illustrated in FIGURE 4 a second drum 71 may be mounted on the shaft extension 70 by means of a removable pin 74 similar to the pin 45. The drum 72 has a sleeve 76 adapted to slide snugly about the shaft extension 70 and the pin 74 is adapted to be disposed in suitable apertures in the sleeve 76 and in the aperture 72 in the shaft extension 70.

Thus according to the advantageous construction of the present invention, it is possible to have two drums 40 and 72 mounted on the winch assembly 38 for performing various suitable tasks. This highly desirable arrangement allows for both the drums 40 and 72 to be simultaneously power driven or to be individually power driven by the winch assembly 38. In addition, the drum 40 may be allowed to free wheel when so desired by the removal of the pin 45 at the same time the drum 72 may also be power driven when placed on the shaft extension and connected by the pin 74. Of course, when so desired the winch assembly 38 may be used without the attachment of the second drum 72.

It will be understood that the foregoing description with the details of exemplary structure is not to be construed in any way to limit the invention, but that modifications may be made thereto without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A winch assembly comprising a supporting vehicle; reel loading means on said vehicle for loading and supporting a cable reel; cable boom means on said vehicle for placing the cable carried by said reel; cable guide means guiding said cable from said reel to said boom; a winch on said vehicle for tensioning the cable placed by said boom, said winch having a shaft and power means for rotating said shaft; a drum rotatably mounted on said shaft, said drum being connected to said shaft by a disengageable connecting member to allow said drum to be power driven by said shaft when said member is engaged and to allow said drum to be freely rotatable when said member is disengaged; a tensioning line wound on said drum and extending from said drum for attachment to the cable placed by said boom for tensioning the cable; and a brake pivotally mounted on said vehicle positioned adjacent said drum to provide for proper winding and unwinding of said tensioning line wound on said drum.

2. The winch assembly of claim 1 wherein said shaft has an outer portion extending beyond said drum and wherein a reel is mounted on said outer portion of said shaft, and wherein a disengageable member connects said reel and said outer portion of said shaft, said disengageable member being disposed in an aperture in said reel and in an aperture in said outer portion of said shaft.

3. The winch assembly of claim 2 wherein a retaining member is provided on said shaft holding said drum thereon during free rotation when said connecting member is disengaged.

4. The winch assembly of claim 1 wherein said brake has a cylindrical weight mounted on the free end thereof, said weight being positioned for engagement with th line wound on said drum to retard the rotation of said drum for preventing backlash of the line thereon.

5. The winch assembly of claim 1 wherein said winch assembly is enclosed in a housing on said vehicle.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,279,758 10/1966 Eitel 254134.3 3,336,002 8/1967 Leigh 254-1343 3,348,811 10/1967 Pierce 254134.3

ROBERT C. RIORDAN, Primary Examiner DAVID R. MELTON, Assistant Examiner 

